Dual Amp Tones

TakaraGold said:
How do you know which amp is using each cab on the stereo cab block? Since there is no visible way to tell, or you just set amp L and amp R and it goes directly to cab L and R?
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pan amp1 hard left and cabL hard left
pan amp2 hard right and cabR hard right

then each amp effectively has it's own cab
 
Speculum Speculorum said:
Every time I've tried to set up a dual amp preset, it sounds absolutely awful (and I mean really bad). Of course, I'm not panning my amps, because what I am trying to do is create a blended tone for double tracking. It seems like as soon as I add an amp I get these crazy phase cancellations, and I can't seem to find a gain structure that doesn't sound either incredibly flubby or way too shrill (and I'm using FW 11 now).

Is it really as simple as creating a stereo patch and hard panning each amp/cab, then double tracking from there? I suppose I could set up two patches and reverse the panning on each setup? Advice?
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I'm guessing your prob is phasing cos the amps are sitting one on top of the other in the centre of the stereo field..
you won't get extra 'size' to the tone.. more like extra murkiness...

if you are going to do this in mono, you need [like Yek points out] to use amps that are different
more importantly, amp/cab combinations that occupy different space within the EQ range..
this is to ensure that they do not compete for space and cause issues

for example..
a bassy tone with a toppy one
a middly tone with a scooped one

my dual amps are effectively in stereo, so the opposite is true..
you want the tones to be very very similar but not quite exactly the same..
this will maintain the the tone's centre of gravity to the centre of the stereo field
it's the small differences that interact and combine to create the sense of 'size'

to summarise:
dual amps in mono need to have opposing EQ and can have different voicing [but don't need to]
dual amps in stereo [dual mono] must have very similar EQ and voicing
 
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My favorites are always a dual amp profile (usually a clean to crunch amp vs. a mid to high gain amp). I use the Expression pedal between them. I control the gain and masters inversely between the amps to set up a gain cross fade. I tweak the controller slopes to get the right tapper mix between them and balance the full output at the pedal stops. That takes a bit of recording trial and error. You can't always count on the feel of it while playing...

I don't pan the amps hard because I run direct and want to get a good image from both. I usually set up stereo cabinets on each because that's the best way to simulate a stereo mic image. I'll adjust the mic proximity on 1 side per amp to set up a complimentary image.

If I were feeding amps and cabs, I'd certainly want to split the signals!
 
My favourite clean patch is a dual amp setup. I run the Shiver Clean parallel with the USA Rhythm, into two different cabs (Axe not in reach right now, forgot what they were), the Shiver Clean indeed ultra-clean, the USA Rhythm with a slightly crunchy tone. Both go into a mix block and from there into the chorus (digital stereo). YUMMY!
 
View attachment USA RHYTHM SHIVER CLN.syx

Here is the patch, in cases somebody wants to try it out. I have made it with FW 6 but never changed it, liked the tone as it is through all FW updates. Have not tried FW 11 yet, though (a friend borrowed my Axe for reampig some guitar tracks for his first album release), don't know if it still sounds good with that one. Oh, and this patch is from Axe Edit, it could be that I added the chorus only later on the Axe itself, and it is not in this patch. In that case, just add it after the mix block, set digital stereo, and I think I just left it with the default settings.
Sounded especially tasty with the bridge humbucker of my EVH Wolfgang Special.
 
One of my most useful tube amp sounds is made by blending the two channels on my Bogner Duende. While they share a single back end (!), they can be dialed to nicely create a hairy, edge of sanity sound with an articulate and punchy top. Cuts well while sounding like shitsgunnablowup, which is sometimes EXACTLY what is needed.

The Axe does this easily, with many more flavors. I like to take one amp into "neck-hold stress position" and the other dialed to a complementary and LARGE cleanish tone that edges into distortion with pick attack. Come to think of it, time to dial some of this into FW11beta...
 
My main two patches are both now dual amp ones. For cleans, I use the USA Clean 2, which has a fat, thick sound to it, paired with the Deluxe Verb (I'm still experimenting with which Fender amp I like best), which has a much brighter, crisper sound. Both are not panned, and running into the same cab block, essentially blending into the same speaker output (I'm using a mix of the V9 Recto 30 and a user IR of a Port City cab that was posted in the IR subforum).

My distortion patch is a mix of the Friedman HBE and the Thordendal Vintage, both running into the same Recto/Port City cab.

Currently my lead patch is just the USA Lead II+, but when I record with it, I've been double tracking with the HBE as well, so I might add that into the patch at some point for live playing, too.


I came to the Axe as a die hard Fender amp guy, but now all of my patches rely heavily on Mesas. Go figure.
 
Super Reverb and JM45 both at the edge of breakup. '4x10 Super Verb Mix' cab on the Super and '4x12 Basketweave Green Mix' on the JM 45. Adjust tone and amp levels until you have full, detailed and crisp tone. Works great with a Strat, Tele or Gretsch.
 
clarky said:
pan amp1 hard left and cabL hard left
pan amp2 hard right and cabR hard right

then each amp effectively has it's own cab
Click to expand...

But then I would need to have two monitors? Like real stereo. I run my AxeFX2 with one Atomic active wedge. And when I mix cabs, I leave them panned dead center.
 
ah.... yeah..
so in that case you may want to look at amps that are quite different..
maybe one to address the lows and another to address the mids and highs..
or
one to be clean and the other dirty..

my approach is completely different cos I run in stereo
 
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